Privacy, Informed Consent and the Demand for Anonymisation of Smart Meter Data

TL;DR

This study investigates consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay for anonymisation of smart meter data, revealing significant demand, privacy concerns, and the importance of informed consent mechanisms to balance privacy and utility.

Contribution

It provides empirical estimates of consumer valuations for anonymisation, highlighting information asymmetries and demographic variations affecting privacy preferences.

Findings

Consumers are willing to pay for anonymisation.

Demand for anonymisation increases with information provision.

A notable minority remains unwilling to adopt smart meters despite anonymisation options.

Abstract

Access to smart meter data offers system-wide benefits but raises significant privacy concerns due to the personal information it contains. Privacy-preserving techniques could facilitate wider access, though they introduce privacy-utility trade-offs. Understanding consumer valuations for anonymisation can help identify appropriate trade-offs. However, existing studies do not focus on anonymisation specifically or account for information asymmetries regarding privacy risks, raising questions about the validity of informed consent under current regulations. We use a mixed-methods approach to estimate non-monetary (willingness-to-share and smart metering demand) and monetary (willingness-to-pay/accept) preferences for anonymisation, based on a representative sample of 965 GB bill payers. An embedded randomised control trial examines the effect of providing information about privacy implications. On average, consumers are willing to pay for anonymisation, are more willing to share data when anonymised and less willing to share non-anonymised data once anonymisation is presented as an option. However, a significant minority remains unwilling to adopt smart meters, despite anonymisation. We find strong evidence of information asymmetries that suppress demand for anonymisation and identify substantial variation across demographic and electricity supply characteristics. Qualitative responses corroborate the quantitative findings, underscoring the need for stronger privacy defaults, user-centric design, and consent mechanisms that enable truly informed decisions.